CalNex 2010 - An Air Quality and
Climate Change Field Study in California in 2010

Watch the Video - CalNex 2010: Bring focus to our Atmosphere

Background

CalNex
2010 was a major climate and air
quality study in California
conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
and the California Air Resources Board (ARB), with the participation of
numerous academic researchers. The field study occurred in May and June
of 2010.
NOAA’s deployment of two aircraft in the State and the establishement
of two supersites (Bakersfield and Pasadena) with researchers from
around the world measuring a wide variety of air quality parameters for
4 to 6 weeks
generated a dataset of unprecedented chemical completeness, spatial
extent and temporal resolution. The presence of the research vessel
Atlantis provided data about the emissions and impacts of shipping
off California’s coast. The study has addressed important scientific
questions about emissions, chemical transformations, climate processes,
transport, and meteorology in California. The air quality and
meteorological data collected during CalNex will improve ARB’s emission
inventories of greenhouse gases, traditional air pollutants and
precursors. In addition the study data will inform ARB’s air quality
models used in SIP development and our understanding of the atmospheric
formation of ozone and PM.

This
webpage
provides background information from the planning stage, the field
study phase, and the data analysis phase of CalNex - Research in
California at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change.